


I Don't Believe In Fairies

by dragons_SRSunn



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies), The Isle of the Lost Series - Melissa de la Cruz
Genre: Harriet's Crew, Peter Pan References, Pre-Descendants (2015), Uma's Crew - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-26 10:20:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30104457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragons_SRSunn/pseuds/dragons_SRSunn
Summary: The Hook children's revenge.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	I Don't Believe In Fairies

**Author's Note:**

> This was really written by a friend who was too shy to get her own account.
> 
> Disclaimer: I (the friend) have not watched any of the Descendants movies or Wicked World. What I know about Descendants comes from the Isle of the Lost books, four of the novellas, the novelizations of the Descendants movies, a few of the graphic novels, random things I read online, what my cousin who did watch Descendants told me, and fanfictions. Due to this, there might be mistakes; let me know if something is inaccurate and should be corrected.
> 
> This takes place at least five or six years before Descendants 1.
> 
> '"You see, children know such a lot now, they soon don't believe in fairies, and every time a child says, 'I don't believe in fairies,' there is a fairy somewhere that falls down dead."'  
> –Peter Pan to Wendy Darling, _Peter Pan and Wendy_ , Chapter Three: _Come Away, Come Away!_

"When Claudine rings the bell," Harriet Hook told her crew, "we all say it. Ye ken?"

"Yes," or "Aye," everyone said, if a bit uncertainly.

"I still don't see the point of this," Anthony Tremaine, who had apparently decided to join them today, muttered.

"The _point_ of this," Harriet snapped, "is to get revenge on Neverland-" a few pirates cheered- "and Peter Pan and those ridiculous fairies-" some more cheering-"and on Auradon!" Even more cheering.

"This isn't actually going to _do_ anything," Anthony noted.

"It's symbolic," Jade suggested.

Anthony's face twisted. "And what purpose does symbolism serve? It's nothing! Useless! Worth-"

"Enough!" Harriet yelled. "We are doin' this because I am th' captain and I say so! And if ye don't want to, ye can lave like ye do three-quarters ay th' time anyway! Ye ken?" She took a deep breath; the accent she had inherited from her mother's Scottish brogue always got stronger whenever she was angry or excited or upset.

Anthony glared at her and muttered something under his breath, but he stepped back.

"Actually," Big Murph put in, "from what my father told me of Neverland, it _is_ going to do something."

Sammy Smee, Will Jukes, Skye Lights, and Damon Salt-children of members of Captain Hook's crew, whose parents had lived in Neverland-nodded.

"It means something," Sammy, the first mate, said. "Harriet and CJ are doing it too. If we say it, all of us..."

"It has a big impact," Skye finished.

"Aye, that it will," Harriet said. If they did this, they would have their revenge on the people of Auradon that had left them on this barren island to rot, on that demon of a forever-young boy, and on that tinkling bell of a fairy!

If this worked the way she had planned it, the way she had told her siblings, it would be the first major communication to Auradon from the Isle since the Isle was created. They would be making a _statement._

_Bong._

"That's the bell from Dragon Hall!" one of the little Smee twins said.

_Bong._

"Aye," Harriet said softly. She took a deep breath. "Now!"

_Bong._

Harriet stepped forward. She stared up at what she could see of the sky through the barrier. "I don't believe in fairies."

There was silence on the ship as everyone seemed to inhale at once and listen.

"I don't believe in fairies," she repeated, thinking of her mother, dead when CJ was two; of how she had basically raised her siblings since she was five; of the poverty and cruelty of the Isle; of her life growing up on a pirate ship before she finally got her own; of how so many of the Isle children had only themselves to depend on; of the plain lack of food; of the sicknesses and malnutrition; and of how Auradon _didn't care._ "I don't believe in fairies! _I don't believe in fairies!"_ She was shouting now, she realized.

Sammy Smee stepped up beside her and looked up too. "I don't believe in fairies!" he shouted, and Harriet knew he was thinking of his mother, dead when the twins were born; of how he had basically raised his brothers since they were three and their father had told them that he loved them but the _Jolly Roger_ was no place for children.

"I don't believe in fairies!" Jade shouted–Jade, whose mother wasn't even from Neverland but from Agrabah–thinking of her mother, slowly sickening; of her cousin, forced to provide for them both.

Behind her, Harriet heard a _thunk._ She turned and saw Anthony, his hand still clutching the handle of his dagger, which was hilt-deep in the scarred mast. "I don't believe in fairies," he rasped, thinking of _his_ mother, tired and worn and having lost all hope for her children; of his sisters and cousins; of his half-mad aunt.

"I don't believe in fairies!" the little Smee twins yelled together, standing next to their big brother. "I don't believe in fairies!"

From the crew of the _Black Flag_ the cry went up: _"I don't believe in fairies!"_

* * *

"When Claudine rings the bell," Uma told her crew, "we all say it. Understand?"

"Yes," or "Aye," everyone said, if a bit uncertainly.

"We are going to hae revenge on Auradon!" Harry yelled, waving his hook around over his head. "They won't ken what hit them!"

"Are you sure this will work?" Bonny asked. "I mean-there's the barrier..."

Yes, the barrier. The cursed barrier, the reason Uma's octopus form strained to get out and couldn't, the reason the sea called to her while repelling her at the same time, the reason they were all dying a slow death.

"This _will_ work," Harry promised them all, a maniacal light in his eye. "Anytime, anywhere someone says it, it happens. And we're all doin' it; me sisters too. The barrier doesn't matter. It might actually be the one piece of magic that can get past the barrier...and it will be their doom!" He laughed.

"But it won't actually doom all of Auradon," Gil pointed out. "Just Neverland."

Harry waved his hook at him. "Doomin' Neverland is doomin' Auradon! Besides, do I look like I care? As lang as I can gie back at that flyin' devil and th' glowin' pixie, I'm happy!" He laughed again, but his voice was brittle; judging by his thickening accent, he was obviously agitated. 

"Yeah, but-" Gil started.

"Enough!" Uma interrupted. "Who's the captain here, me or you?"

"Ye are," Harry said.

"Who's your captain?" Uma called to the crew.

"Uma!" they all said, including Gil, wisely.

Uma grinned. _That_ was her name. "And we are going to do this, without any fighting or arguing or taking revenge in the form of tying your opponent upside down to the mast-"

"It was _one time_!" Jonas complained.

Uma lifted a hand. "Because I am your captain and I give the orders! Besides," she added, "don't you _want_ to give those prissy princesses in Auradon a heart attack when they find out-"

"Aye!" Harry shouted, waving his hook in the air.

Uma glared at him. "While your enthusiasm is appreciated, Hook," she said, trying to sound like the scariest witch teachers had in Serpent Prep before she'd dropped out, " _I_ would appreciate it if you let me finish speaking."

"Sorry, Captain," Harry said, not looking very sorry.

"But what's going to happen if this works?" Bonny asked.

"Ye ken what's gonna happen!" Harry cried.

"No, I mean-" Bonny zigzagged her way through the crowd of pirates on the deck and approached the _Lost Revenge_ 's captain and first mate. "If we all do this, then-"

_Bong._

"That's the bell from Dragon Hall!" Gil said, sounding excited.

_Bong._

"Aye," Uma said softly. She would have to be the first to say it, to prove that she wasn't frightened of any repercussions, that she wanted to send a message to Auradon– _So you think you can just imprison us here forever, just forget about us? Let us remind you that we exist–_ and most of all, so Harry wouldn't beat her to it. _She_ was the captain. She took a deep breath. "Now!"

_Bong._

Uma stepped forward. She stared up at what she could see of the sky through the barrier. "I don't believe in fairies."

There was silence on the ship as everyone seemed to inhale at once and listen.

"I don't believe in fairies," she repeated, thinking of how she'd been fending for herself ever since she could remember, little more than a servant to her mother; of the poverty and cruelty of the Isle; of how she was trapped in this human skin, unable to take her true form; how the sea called to her, an agonizing summons, and of how she could not answer; of the sickness and malnutrition caused by a lack of basic food and medicine; of having to scavenge for _anything_ that would be even halfway useful; of starting her own pirate crew when she was eleven so she and the others could form their own crew to protect themselves, and how Auradon _didn't care_. "I don't believe in fairies! _I don't believe in fairies!"_ She was shouting now, she realized.

"I don't believe in fairies!" Harry shouted, scarcely a moment behind her, thinking of his mother, dead when he was four; of his fearsome father, whose hook was not fake like his was; of his sisters, scattered; of a life in Neverland he could have had if not for that demon boy and his glowing sprite. "I don't believe in fairies!"

"I don't believe in fairies!" Gonzo yelled, whose parents had both been dead by the time he was five.

"I don't believe in fairies!" Bonny shouted to the sky, forgetting her inhibitions and fear of repercussions from Auradon, feeling the wind in her hair and the sea spray on her face, enjoying the fact that she was in some way getting back at Auradon. 

"I don't believe in fairies!" Gil yelled, thinking of how his family hadn't spoken to him for two years.

From the crew of the _Lost Revenge_ the cry went up: _"I don't believe in fairies!"_

* * *

"When Claudine rings the bell," CJ Hook told Freddie and Celia, "we all say it. Get it?"

"Yes," Freddie said, if a bit uncertainly. "But is this really going to accomplish anything? There's only three of us, and Celia's six."

"Almost seven," Celia informed her older sister, clinging to every bit of maturity she could get.

"Oh, aye," CJ assured Freddie, feeling a bit of savage pleasure at what was about to happen. "It doesn't matter how old you are. Any age works. And it's not just us–Harriet and Harry are doing it too. Their whole crews are. So if all of us do it at once..." CJ rubbed her hands together and grinned maniacally.

True, there were only three of them. CJ wasn't part of a pirate crew like her siblings were. Freddie was her only crewmate. Ally. Friend. Minion. Whatever. Plus Freddie's little sister Celia.

But three of them were a lot better than just one. Wasn't three supposed to be a magic number or something?

"Whenever _anyone_ says it," CJ promised the two Faciliers. "It has power. It doesn't matter if there's the barrier in the way or not. Oh, we're going to give those fairies what for..." She laughed.

Freddie rubbed her eyes, looking tired. For a moment, every shadow on the roof of the arcade where they were standing darkened.

"Stop _worrying_ so much," CJ chided. "Look, d'you want to get revenge on Auradon or not? Unless they suddenly decide to bring a few of us over, or send one of their own over _here_ , this is the only way we can do it. It's not like we can write them angry letters or anything." 

Freddie nodded, remembering the letters her father had written to Auradon when her mother had fallen ill, all of which had come back unopened. The shadows darkened further.

"Stop _doing_ that," CJ muttered.

Freddie smirked. 

Celia giggled.

The barrier kept out magic, true. This had devastating effects for those who were, in essence, magic, like Uma and Mal, not that they would admit it. But there was magic, and then there was disbelief, and then there were creepy shadows that sucked out your soul.

Or something.

There were shadows beneath the barrier too, after all.

The point was, CJ was glad Freddie and Celia were on _her_ side. Plus they could see in the dark, which came in very useful whenever CJ was planning a prank on Harry.

If only the shadows could get _through_ the barrier, but no; the barrier was too strong to allow shadows to cut through. Still, CJ would take what she could get. 

"Harriet and Harry are doing this too?" Freddie asked.

"We'll all be doing it when the bell rings," CJ reiterated, only noticing after the fact that she'd said "we" instead of "they" or "the crews" or something.

It was hard, being the only Hook without a pirate crew.

If she'd tried, she could probably have formed her own. She was a daughter of Captain Hook, after all.

Or maybe she _wouldn't_ have been able to form her own, considering that most of the would-be pirates were already part of Harriet's or Uma's crew.

Besides, CJ was a free spirit. She didn't like being tied down to anything. She didn't like being responsible for too many things. She didn't like being beholden to a crew.

If you were part of a crew, you were responsible for it. Especially if you were the captain. Or even the first mate, in Harry's case.

CJ liked her freedom, the freedom to run around the Isle doing whatever she wanted(within reason, as per negotiations with Harriet).

So she dropped by Harriet's and Uma's crews every so often and stayed with their respective crews for a few days. She crashed by Freddie's house, and, since they didn't have an extra bedroom, and Freddie's and Celia's was small enough as it was, she would sleep in the arcade beneath a couple of the games. The benefits of this arrangement went both ways: CJ got somewhere to sleep and also the run of the arcade after hours, and her presence there discouraged break-ins, since most people fled upon coming face-to-face with a wild-eyed Hook angry at having been woken up. She would camp out in the Queen of Hearts' salon(the Queen of Hearts, instead of beheading her, actually appreciated her boldness). She would sleep under the bell of Dragon Hall(giving Claudine the shock of her life). She would even stop by infrequently on the _Jolly Roger_ (out of the three Hook children, she actually visited the most often). 

CJ liked it that way. She carried all her worldly possessions around with her in a pack. It was fun.

She had almost forgotten what having a home in one place was like. She rarely thought of it.

She hadn't _wanted_ one in years.

(Or had she?)

"This is taking forever," Celia said, interrupting CJ's reverie, to CJ's relief.

"She'll ring the bell soon," CJ said quickly. "She has to make sure-"

_Bong._

"That's the bell from Dragon Hall!" Celia said.

_Bong._

"See?" CJ asked. "I'll go first." She was a Hook, after all; this was her vengeance. Neverland was in her blood. She took a deep breath. "Now!"

_Bong._

CJ stepped forward. She stared up at what she could see of the sky through the barrier. "I don't believe in fairies."

There was silence on the arcade roof as the Facilier girls inhaled at once and listened. Even the wind seemed to pause for a moment.

"I don't believe in fairies," she repeated, thinking of her mother, dead when she was two; of her siblings, who emulated their mother's accent to pay homage to her, while CJ had no memory of her, who were on rival pirate crews; of how she scarcely belonged anywhere; of days scrambling for anything to eat; of nights spent shivering with fever but refusing to swallow her pride and go to her siblings because she knew they would barely be able to do anything anyway; of the poverty and cruelty of the Isle; of how she'd been on her own since she was ten, only staying in one place for a week at a time at most–true, that had been her decision, but it would have been nice to have the option of somewhere stable to stay–of the desperation of the Isle inhabitants, both the "villains" and their children, and how Auradon _didn't care_. "I don't believe in fairies! _I don't believe in fairies!"_ She was shouting now, she realized.

Freddie took a deep breath. "I don't believe in fairies!" she cried, thinking of her mother, dead when she was five, before Celia would ever be able to remember her; of her father, the once-feared and respected Shadow Man of New Orleans, now, as one of the villains who actually cared about his children, working two jobs that anywhere else would have been prestigious but on the Isle barely allowed him to feed his children; of Celia, growing up motherless, with not enough to eat and no future. "I don't believe in fairies!"

"I don't believe in fairies!" Celia yelled at the sky, her small hand in Freddie's larger one, her eyes too wide in her thin face. "I don't believe in fairies!"

From the three girls atop Facilier's Arcade the cry went up: _"I don't believe in fairies!"_

* * *

From the children of the Isle of the Lost the cry went up: _"I don't believe in fairies!"_

* * *

When had any of them ever had the opportunity to believe in fairies?

* * *

They felt better afterward, somehow. Cleansed. Refreshed. As if letting out their emotions had made them more...whole. Everyone denied crying.

The fairies of Pixie Hollow, meanwhile, could not figure out why so many of their number had died of disbelief all at once.


End file.
